A massive mass and a thunderous mascletà center the first events of the day of the Mare de Déu

Festes Majors Patronals de Benidorm celebrates this Sunday their big day dedicated to the city's patron saint, the Mare de Déu del Sofratge, with an intense program of events that started early in the morning and will continue well into the afternoon. evening. Among the main events experienced during the first part of the day, the Mass that took place in the church of San Jaime and Santa Ana stands out, where the image of the patrons is kept, and a thunderous mascletà with which Pirotecnica del Mediterráneo has inaugurated the pyrotechnic cycle of this 2023.

After the firing of an aerial bombardment and a despertà to inaugurate the day, as well as a parade with music bands through the old town, the church of San Jaime and Santa Ana has been filled to the brim with people to participate in the first High Mass of the Festivals. The Eucharist, sung by the Camerata Arts Cantica of Benidorm, was officiated by the parish priest of the church of San Vicente Ferrer in San Vicente del Raspeig and vicar of evangelization of the diocese, Miguel Ángel Cerezo Saura, who was accompanied by other priests, among them the parish priest of San Jaime, Juan Antonio González. The mayor of the city and president of the Provincial Council, Toni Pérez, has participated in this religious celebration along with the queens and ladies of the Festivals, the presidents of the Festival Committee and the Penyes Association, the 2023 standard bearer, members of the main entities related to the Virgin of Suffrage and San Jaume and parishioners. Members of the municipal corporation were also present, as well as Senator Agustín Almodóbar and the regional deputies José Ramón González de Zárate, Manuel Pérez Fenoll, and Mario Villar.

After the mass, the festive procession and authorities paraded from Plaza de Sant Jaume to Avenida de Jaime I, where many supporters, neighbors, and tourists who were spending these days in the town and who did not want to miss were already waiting for them. the first 'mascletà' of these Festes Majors Patronals. At two o'clock in the afternoon, Angélica Morenilla Such and Daniela Talavera Ventura, together with the mayor, the mayor of Fiestas, Mariló Cebreros, and the president of the Commission, Vicente Solaz, lit the fuse of a 'mascletà' that lasted almost ten-minute duration and ended with a thunderous finale that aroused a standing ovation.

This afternoon there are scheduled to be several children's activities, before the other two highlights of the day: the Procession of the Mare de Déu, which will start at 7:30 p.m. from Plaça de Sant Jaume; and the singing of the traditional 'Copletes', also in this same place, in front of the doors of the church, starting at 11 p.m.

Finally, and on a more recreational level, at midnight in the Town Hall square, Mojinos Escozíos concert will take place.